Last Saturday, Andover suffered one of its toughest losses of the year to a strong Choate team. After having already lost to Deerfield and Milton, Andover was disappointed with its narrow loss to Choate. From the moment Choate stepped foot on Andover’s courts, the Boys Tennis team knew it was going to be a challenge. Before facing Andover, Choate had defeated Exeter 7-0. The first doubles team of Trey Meyer ’09 and Mark Adamsson ’11 gave Andover their first win of the day, upsetting their opponents 8-4. Choate, however, claimed victories in the next two doubles matches. Hunter Schlacks ’11 and Myles O’Neil ’12 lost second doubles 8-4, and Tony Zou ’09 and Michael Kontaxis ’11 lost their doubles match, 8-5. Meyer brought hope to the team by winning his first singles match in straight sets and continuing his undefeated streak. After Kontaxis lost his singles match, O’Neil won against his Exeter opponent to tie the game at 3-3. Zou played the deciding and most exciting match of the game. After losing the first set he came from behind to win in the second, but lost a very dramatic third set 1-6, 6-4, 4-6. In the end, Andover fell to Choate 4-3. Andover learned a lot from the game against Choate. “The doubles point was crucial for this match and I think we now really appreciate how important the point is after this loss,” said Zou. On Tuesday, Andover hosted Andover High School in a scrimmage. Kontaxis said, “Since this was only an exhibition, I was very relaxed, and as a result, I played rather well.” Meyer also played a great game, defeating his opponent 6-2, 6-1. With victories from Adamsson and Kontaxis, Andover won the game 4-1. This weekend, the team will play in the NEITA Tournament. At this tournament Andover will have the opportunity to play eight top teams. Andover will start off the weekend by playing in the quarterfinals on Saturday morning. “We need the middle of our ladder to return to form, and we need to continue to increase the aggressiveness of our doubles,” said Coach Wilkin. In practice the team has been focusing on volleys, overheads, and mid-court transitional play. In addition, Andover anticipates an invitation to the New England championships, which will showcase some of the top schools in New England. Meyer won the individual tournament his lower year, and he hopes that Andover will be just as successful this year. Adamsson said, “We need to fight harder if we want to achieve our goal of winning the championship.”
